Self-care of chronic illness

Published: Monday 19th June 2017

The Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research is delighted to present the seminar 'Self-care of chronic illness' by Professor Barbara Riegel, Edith Clemmer Steinbright Professor of Gerontology, School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania, on 29 June.

Self-care is a term that captures both treatment adherence and symptom management. In this seminar, Professor Barbara Riegel will describe self-care in adults with chronic illness, emphasizing those factors that impair self-care such as multimorbidity, poor sleep, cognitive impairment, and depression.

Professor Barbara Riegel is a world-leading authority on cardiovascular disease management and a recipient of multiple prestigious awards for her contributions to health science, including the American Heart Association Distinguished Scientist Award for ‘significant, original and sustained scientific contributions that have advanced the mission of building healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke’. Professor Riegel’s primary research interest is self-care of older adults with chronic heart failure. This interest in self-care grew out of her early years as a Clinical Nurse Researcher at Sharp HealthCare in San Diego, California, where she led several studies testing methods of transitioning chronically ill patients from hospital to home. Her work in self-care and disease management has been cited widely and used to support programs of care internationally.

In 2015, Professor Riegel’s outstanding record of achievement in chronic heart failure disease management research was recognised by her induction into the International Honor Society of Nursing’s Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame. She is also Co-editor of the Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing.